Fastener for shoe-soles.



No. 777,453. PATENTED DEC. 13, 1904.

J. P. WAKEPIELD.

FASTBNER POR SHUE SOLES.

APPLIoATIoN FILED AUG. 25. 1902.

No MODEL.

Ag-#555125: INJEVIT'DFY 409W D NITE STATES Patented December 13, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN PORTER WAKEFIELD, OF VVINTHROP, lVIASSAOHUSETTS, ASSlG-NOR TO GEORGE B. LOMBARD, OF BOSTON, MASSAOHUSFITS.

IFASTENEH FOR SHOENSOLES..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,453, dated December 13, 1904,

Application tiled August 25, 1902. Serial No. 120,937. (No model.)

To all whom it 'may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOHN Pon'rnn WAKE- FIELD, of Winthrop, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fasteners for Shoe-Soles, of which the following' is a speciiication.

My invention consists in a fastening' for shoe-soles made of a continuous wire, which IO is so bent and looped as to form a series of prongs, each prong being' made of doubled wire and all connected together and adapted to be driven either as a whole or progressively into the shoe to attach the sole to the upper. I My invention will be understood by reference to the drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows the preferred form of fastener embodying my invention, Fig'. 2 being a modification thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional 2O detail of a shoe the sole of which is attached by means of the fastener shown in Fig. l, Fig. i being' a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail showing a shoe fastened by the form of my invention shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 6 being a section on line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and 8 show modifications.

A is a wire which is bent, as shown in Fig'. l, to form a fastener comprising downwardlyprojecting prongs o, upwardly projecting prongs a', and connecting portions a2. By examining Fig'. lit will be seen that the wire is first bent downward and then back upon itself to form the downwardly projecting prong a, its upward bend being' continued above the connecting portion a and again bent back upon itself to form the upwardprojecting prong a'. A turn is preferably given to it, as shown at a3, to bind the prongs to the connecting' portion a2 of the fastener', 40 after which the wire is extended at rig'ht angles to the prongs for a short distance and then bent to make the next pair of prongs. This is a simple and very desirable way of making a fastener of this character, although l do not mean to limit myself to exactly this construction. I have shown in Fig. 2 a similar construction, in which, however, the lower prongs are omitted.

ln using this fastener I prefer that the outer sole O shall have the usual channel c. The 5o :fastener may be made of indefinite length and when applied to the shoe, ii" the form of the fastener is that shown in Fig'. 1, the connecting portions a thereof lie between the upper B and the outer' sole O, the upwardly- 5 5 projecting prongs a' being driven through the upper B and the inner sole ll) and clenched against the last, the downwardly-projecting prongs a being' driven through the outer sole O and clenched in the channel c. It is best 6o to attach the fastener in the outer sole O iirst and then apply the outer sole to the upper and inner sole. Where the form of fastener shown in Fig. 2 is used, it is preferable to drive the fastener through from the outside of the outer sole C, so that the connecting portion a will lie in the channel c, the tips of the prongs being clenched within the shoe.

One advantage of this forni of fastener is its great flexibility, as it can be made of a 7o strong' but small 'flexible wire which serves as a connection between the prongs, so that the sole will yield to every movement of the foot, the prongs themselves being made of double wire, which will give them ample strength, and as the fastener' new merely perforates the leather to the extent donc by ordinary sewing it can be used on a turned shoe or slipper without danger of unduly wearing the leather,

making' the shoe heavy, or restricting' its `tleXi- So bility.

What li claim as my invention irs-- l. The shoe-fastener above described com prising a continuous length of wire having a series of prongs integral therewith and pro- S 5 jecting at right angles therefrom, said prongs being arranged in pairs projecting from opposite sides of said fastener, each pair of prongs being' connected by a wire at right angles to the length of the fastener and extending from the tip of one prong to the tip of the Wire from which said prongs project IO ot' the opposite prong and forming part of by a turn in said Wire, as described.

both prongs, as described. In testimony whereof I hereunto set my 2. The shoe-fastener above described cornname this 22d day of August, 1902. 5 prising a continuous length of Wire having a JOHN PORTER WAKEFIELD series of prongs integral therewith and extending therefrorn at right angles thereto, Vitnesses:

each prong comprising a loop of parallel sec- GEORGE O. G. CoALE, tions of wire bound together and to that part M. E. FLAHERTY. 

